Doncaster Rovers man set for nail-biting finale as he looks to help loan club preserve EFL status
Doncaster Rovers might not have much jeopardy riding on their final game of the season, but one of their players is gearing up for a nail-biting finale.
Bobby Faulkner has spent the whole season on loan at Harrogate Town and this Saturday sees his temporary employers involved in a fierce, five-way battle to preserve their EFL status.
Simon Weaver's side are 23rd in League Two (on 39 points) and sit inside the relegation places on goal difference only. Behind them is basement club Barrow (36 points) and within their reach is Crawley (39 points), Newport and Tranmere (both 40 points).
Harrogate host Barnet on the last day whilst Barrow face Newport in a monster clash. As for Crawley and Tranmere, they both have home games against sides in the play-offs, Salford and Grimsby.
Faulkner, 21, has started the last two games for Harrogate and looks in with a decent shout of keeping the shirt for Saturday's huge game.
Whatever happens at the weekend, the centre-half is set to return to Rovers after the club announced that they activated an extension option in his deal, which was due to expire this summer. You have to go back to October 2023 for the last time he represented his parent club with subsequent loan stints at Dundalk and Buxton before his move to North Yorkshire.
Faulkner has made 25 appearances for Harrogate to date, having been laid low for three months midway through the campaign after sustaining a hamstring tear.
Weaver recently praised Faulkner for re-establishing himself in the team's starting XI. He said: "Bobby stood out for his old-school qualities, really, for want of a better phrase – the first ball being won, the aggression, the pace across the ground affecting the ball in both boxes."